


Neil Passes Out

by Chiruka_Hana



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Book 3: The King's Men, M/M, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, Oblivious Neil Josten, POV Andrew Minyard, POV Neil Josten, Protective Andrew Minyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:54:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22321417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiruka_Hana/pseuds/Chiruka_Hana
Summary: Neil Josten passes out after playing too hard during an Exy game. Who comes to his aid!?(Specifically The King’s Men Chapter 5 after they won the game and Neil talked to the press. Neil pushed Kevin and had that argument in French. This Fanfiction starts from there. Keep in mind that I just finished reading that part and that part only so there may some inconsistencies with what happens in the next chapter of the book. Like the tattoo, I didn’t know whether Neil covered it up again or not.)
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 4
Kudos: 133





	Neil Passes Out

Neil stared at Kevin for an answer but Kevin didn’t speak again. Neil turned away but when he did, he must have moved too fast. Suddenly, he started to feel dizzy. His aching body from the tough play he had to go through today was making him numb and dizzy. He tried to push the pain down like it didn’t exist. He knew he only needed to change out and get back to the Fox Tower to rest. His body had to hold out until then. 

Neil finally saw Coach Wymack at the end of the hall. Wymack had an unlit cigarette in his mouth and gave Neil a puzzled look. Wymack was about to speak when Neil tried to take an unsteady step forward. It was like slow motion for Neil. Neil raised his foot, moved his body forward, and stamped his foot down to the ground. Neil saw the room turn and didn’t know if he could step on the ground without watching his foot moving carefully. All of the foxes had watched Neil’s awkward movement. Neil paused for a moment, trying to blink the dizziness out of his eyes. When he thought he had regained his balance, he took another step forward. A wash of dizziness rushed over him once more. 

Neil cursed silently. He couldn’t let his body fail right now, not in front of all the foxes. If he passed out or threw up now, Wymack might forbid Neil from playing Exy for at least another week or so. Neil couldn’t handle that. He was finally able to play now and he couldn’t let that chance slip away. He only had a number of times to play before he would die in a few months. He had to go to every practice and every game up until that point. So he tried his best to shake off the dizziness and the numbness throughout his body. 

Neil straightened and took one more step forward. It was better. He looked like he could walk properly this time, no awkward or uncertain movements. No one spoke a word and only watched Neil carefully. Neil stared ahead at his destination; the changing room was the door past Wymack. Neil only needed to change out then he could sit down to combat the dizziness. Neil steeled himself and began walking normally. He only got two steps before the ground seemed to move. Neil tried to step down on it but the ground was moving too much for Neil to see where his foot was going. 

In front of everyone, Neil stumbled but caught himself with his other foot to balance. That was when the foxes were done watching Neil’s pathetic display. They refused to be silent any longer. 

“Are you alright!?” Dan exclaimed, her stance at the ready to catch Neil if he needed her. 

Neil straightened again, trying to show his confidence. He waved his hand at Dan in dismissal. “I’m fine.” 

“Now what the hell did I say about you saying that all the time?” Wymack stepped away from the wall he was leaning against. “Tell me what’s really going on or I’ll bench you for month.” 

Neil knew Wymack would threaten him like this. It still made Neil feel desperate to make everyone think he was truly fine. A month of not being able to play Exy was too much for Neil to handle. Neil knew he had to walk with steady steps from here on to convince everyone he was telling the truth. 

“I said I’m fine.” Neil reiterated, trying to get the desperation out of his voice. Neil started walking confidently to the changing room door. Or at least he thought he did. One step and the ground was coming up to meet Neil. He stared down in confusion. 

All of the foxes tried to move to catch Neil before he face planted on the hard floor. Andrew was there in the blink of an eye; he let Neil fall into his arms. Neil tried to make sense of why Andrew caught him and how he got here so quickly. The world began to grow dark before he could figure it out. Neil passed out in Andrew’s embrace. 

The foxes began talking all at once, worried and trying to figure out why Neil had passed out. Andrew stared down at Neil’s practically lifeless body. Andrew felt the weight of him in his arms. His expression would not change though. 

“Alright, alright, shut up,” Wymack said and walked toward Andrew and Neil. “This dumbass worked himself too hard. He just needs some rest. We ought to get that armor off of him first.” Wymack reached for Neil. 

Andrew turned away from Wymack, not letting Wymack touch Neil. Andrew gave Wymack a bored expression that also had hints of hostility. Andrew wouldn’t let anyone take Neil where Andrew couldn’t see. 

“Come on, let’s get him changed then.” Dan walked forward and tried to reach for Neil too but Andrew moved out of the way again. 

Dan was so worried about Neil and didn’t know why Andrew was acting like this. She didn’t want to push Andrew because everyone knew what he was capable of, but she also wanted to care for Neil in his time of need. She got angry at Andrew without a moment of fear. 

“Neil needs to get changed and get some rest! If you aren’t going to do it, then hand him over already.” Dan stepped closer to Andrew. She would be ready to grab Neil if needed. She glared down at Andrew, trying to read his unreadable expression. 

“I’ll do it.” Andrew said with no hesitation. The room went silent. Did they hear him right? The selfish Andrew that wouldn’t want to ever do something like this because it had no benefit to him, said he’d do it immediately? 

Of course Andrew knew helping Neil like this didn’t benefit himself in any way. It would be better to just hand Neil off to someone else and let them handle it. Andrew wouldn’t have to be bothered like this. And yet with what happened between Neil and Riko, Andrew felt he had to step in. Riko’s presence at the game today made Neil have an interesting expression on his face. One that Andrew didn’t like the sight of for some reason. What Neil didn’t know earlier, was that Andrew was at the ready to catch Neil at the first uncertain step he took. Andrew’s body tensed automatically and he watched Neil’s movements the closest. He knew Neil was going to go down after he said he was fine. That’s how Andrew moved forward first and was able to catch him. 

“Then hurry it up. We don’t have all day. All of you, get changed out and be in the van in 20 minutes. I’ll sign you all up for a marathon if you aren’t there by then. Get moving already.” Wymack was the only one who didn’t seem too fazed by Andrew’s willingness. After his quick instructions, Wymack left the room. 

Dan glanced at Andrew and Neil again before going to the girl’s changing room. Allison and Renee followed. Renee smiled kindly at Andrew as she passed. 

Andrew tried to lift Neil up onto his shoulder better. Andrew was strong enough to hold him but with their bulky armor clinking together, it was hard to put Neil over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Andrew at least needed to avoid dragging Neil’s feet along the ground. Neil’s face was in Andrew’s neck and Andrew was holding him from under his arms. Andrew tried once more to lift Neil up to get Neil’s feet off the ground. But Neil was taller than Andrew even if by a little bit. Andrew gave up and dragged Neil to the changing room. The boys tried to follow, especially Nicky and Kevin. Nicky was concerned for Neil while Kevin was still trying to understand Andrew’s actions. 

Andrew stopped in the doorway and stared at Nicky and Kevin. “Don’t,” was all Andrew said as he slammed the door. Nicky and Kevin took that as a ‘don’t follow me’ and could only stare at the closed door. The boys usually had to wait for Neil to change on his own but they wanted to see Neil to see if he was going to be alright. They waited impatiently this time. 

Andrew laid Neil down on a bench in the changing room. Andrew knew he had to change himself first because it would be too hard to take Neil’s bulky armor off with wearing bulky armor of his own. His goalkeeper armor was bulkier than anyone else’s anyway. Andrew took all of his armor off and considered showering. It would be alright to leave Neil here since he was unconscious and no one would come in. Andrew stared down at Neil’s face while thinking about it. 

Andrew had put his regular clothes on and got to work changing Neil. Andrew had already seen Neil’s scars and bruises on his chest but the image of Neil almost completely naked was different. Neil still had a few bruises on his legs and chest. Andrew leaned over and traced Neil’s scars with a finger. It still shocked Andrew that Neil had a bullet hole on his chest. Andrew knew Neil was still keeping things from him. He wanted to hear the whole story. The story that each of his scars contained. The story that made Neil this way. 

Andrew carefully touched the bandage on Neil’s cheek that hid his tattoo. Rage flushed through Andrew’s veins. He would kill Riko whenever he got the chance. He remembered when Wymack stopped him earlier. Andrew was ready to murder Riko in front of everyone, not caring for all of the witnesses. Andrew moved his hand to Neil’s auburn hair. The rage subsided. He finally got to see what Neil truly looked like. If only the bruises and mess Riko made of Neil’s face weren’t there when Andrew finally saw Neil again. 

Andrew let his hand run over Neil’s chest once again before standing up and changing Neil into his regular clothes. It took quite a bit of effort but eventually Neil was clothed. Andrew would have happily threw Neil over his shoulder and left the changing room to quickly get to the van. But Andrew instead made careful movements, picking Neil up slowly and seeing how Neil’s head rolled back and his neck was at an awkward angle. Andrew put a hand under his head and made Neil lay back against Andrew’s neck. 

Andrew carried Neil off the ground princess style and left the changing room. Nicky immediately went toward them and eyed Neil for any new injuries. Andrew didn’t even look in anyone else’s direction as he headed down the hall and to the van. He didn’t even reply to Nicky’s call after him asking if Neil was alright. 

All of the foxes had successfully piled into the van in the 20 minute time limit Wymack gave them. Andrew sat with Neil’s head leaning against his shoulder in a seat by themselves. Kevin was across from Andrew, staring at them intently. Kevin was silently asking Andrew for answers. Andrew didn’t pay any attention to Kevin. He instead stared ahead, looking at nothing in particular. He focused on the sensation of Neil’s body against his arm. Andrew started to think he liked when Neil was vulnerable like this but he soon put that thought out of his mind. Neil would eventually wake up and go back to his guarded self. Even though Andrew wanted to know the story of Neil badly, he didn’t want to have to go through the trouble of asking only to get more lies in return. Andrew would be satisfied with this for now. 

Wymack drove them to the airport so they could get on the last flight and finally get home. Wymack decided on what to do about the unconscious Neil. They surely couldn’t bring a body that almost looks dead into the airport. Wymack told Andrew to wake up Neil however he saw fit. 

Andrew glanced at Neil, thinking for only a moment he would prefer to carry him like this. But he knew that wouldn’t work out. Andrew asked for a bucket of cold water. That had to wake him up. Wymack sent a few foxes to find some cold water and bring it back to the van. They came back with water bottles. Andrew took them and poured them on Neil’s face with no hesitation. 

Neil sputtered awake, looking around frightened. Riko and Jean would wake Neil up with a bucket of water whenever he passed out from pain and exhaustion. For a moment Neil thought he was back in that nightmare. Andrew grabbed Neil’s face and made Neil look at him. Neil searched Andrew’s face and slowly began to relax. If Andrew was here, there was no way he was back in Riko’s torture chamber. Neil’s fear turned to confusion. He grabbed Andrew’s hand and removed it from his face to look around at where he was. 

Neil met the faces of the concerned foxes and the familiar scenery of the van. Neil looked down at his clothes to see he was changed. He glanced out the window at the airport. Then Neil looked back at Andrew, possibly searching for an explanation. 

Andrew let go of Neil, folded his arms, and looked away as if he couldn’t care less. He didn’t feel like explaining. Wymack stepped in to explain what happened after Neil passed out. Neil listened quietly and tried to avoid more eye contact with the worried foxes. Neil glanced at Andrew while Wymack told the story. Nicky and Dan chimed in to tell of some details that Wymack didn’t witness. 

Neil stared at Andrew, a silent beg for Andrew to look at him. Andrew refused to. Neil hoped he could understand why Andrew caught him and changed him and carried him here if he met Andrew’s eyes. But Andrew’s refusal made it hard to see why and Neil couldn’t think properly at the moment. Instead, Neil looked back at the foxes and reluctantly apologized. 

Surprisingly, Wymack didn’t say much and only shook his head. There was nothing about if Neil had to stay out of practice again. Wymack gave Neil a towel to dry his head and also made him dry the seat of the van. 

They didn’t waste anymore time here. They all went into the airport. Dan and Nicky expressed their concern for Neil. Matt did too. The others didn’t say much to Neil but kept glancing at him. Aaron and Andrew though, they didn’t look at Neil at all. Neil tried to satisfy any of their concerns with a “I’m fine, I just got really dizzy” and a “I feel better now”. Nicky definitely looked skeptical but stopped hounding Neil with his worry. 

From then on, Andrew ignored Neil. Neil couldn’t get answers out of him and gave up trying. They made it back home safely. Neil wondered if he asked enough, Andrew would finally break and answer his questions. For now, Neil decided to wait. Maybe eventually he would learn what Andrew was thinking. 

Andrew kept a watchful eye on Neil. Although he enjoyed Neil’s vulnerability earlier, he also never wanted Neil to look like that again. Seeing Neil’s unmoving body made Andrew wonder if that’s how Neil would look if he was dead. The fact that that thought frightened Andrew so much was shocking. Andrew knew he had to do whatever he could from now on to prevent Neil from dying. Neil had accepted the fact he was going to die but Andrew was starting to hate that. The one who could kill Neil that Andrew knew of was Riko. From that day on, Andrew thought only of ways to kill Riko and protect Neil. 

~End~


End file.
